BANGKOK: Several countries including Canada and Australia are in
talks with the UN refugee agency to accept a Saudi asylum seeker
who fled alleged abuse from her family, Thai police said on
Friday.

Thailand's immigration police chief, Surachate Hakparn, told
reporters the UN was accelerating the case, though he gave no
indication of when the process would be complete.

Rahaf Mohammed Alqunun was
stopped at a Bangkok airport on Saturday by Thai immigration police
who denied her entry and seized her passport.

While barricading herself in an airport hotel room, the 18-year-old
launched a social media campaign via her Twitter account that drew
global attention to her case. It garnered enough public and
diplomatic support to convince Thai officials to admit her
temporarily under the protection of UN officials.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees eventually granted her
refugee status on Wednesday.

Alqunun's case has highlighted the cause of women's rights in Saudi
Arabia. Several female Saudis fleeing abuse by their families have
been caught trying to seek asylum abroad in recent years and
returned home. Human rights activists say many similar cases have
gone unreported.

By Friday, Alqunun had closed down her Twitter account. Sophie
McNeill, a reporter with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
who has had exclusive access to Alqunun, said Friday in a Twitter
posting that Alqunun "is safe and fine." "She's just been receiving
a lot of death threats," McNeill wrote, adding that Alqunun would
be back on Twitter after a "short break." Alqunun had previously
said on Twitter that she wishes to seek refuge in Australia.

Australia's Foreign Minister Marise Payne met with senior Thai
officials in Bangkok on Thursday. She later told reporters that
Australia assessing Alqunun's request for resettlement, but there
was no specific timeframe.

Payne said she also raised Australia's concerns with Thai officials
about Hakeem Al-araibi, a 25-year-old former member of Bahrain's
national soccer team, who was granted refugee status in Australia
in 2017 after fleeing his homeland, where he said he was persecuted
and tortured.

Hakeem's case is being considered by Thailand's justice system, she
said.